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Friday, January 31, 2014

New year, same old blogger habits!

Well my best intentions again didn't get me to blog any more frequently this month. Just been way too busy with work travel etc but still trying to find pockets of time to stitch. It seems like many of you are off to a roaring start for 2014 with old projects being finished and new ones started - I'm seeing great stuff out there on your blogs!

I finally stitched up one of LHN's Sheep Virtues...I had bought 6 of my favorites from the set of 12 published last year. I dccided I wasn't that in love with the Dark Chino fabric - a little too dark for me and I prefer a higher count than 30. So I finished up the one I stitched as a hanging pillow:

LHN "Peace" Sheep Virtue

stitched on 30-ct Dark Chino linen with mix of DMC & overdyed floss

I really like how it turned out but I have no place really for 6 pillows...hanging or not....so I've decided I'm going to start over and stitch all 6 sheep on one piece of fabric that is lighter in color and has a smaller thread count. They are fun to stitch so I won't mind stitching this little Peace Sheep again.

I also stitched up an older Just Nan piece this month called "Beach Roses". I stitched this originally years back and made it into a biscornu for a swap Becky Bee had her SBEBB exchange board. I always wanted to stitch it for myself "someday". Well...someday finally arrived! I plan to make it into a needlebook for myself as soon as I get the wool I ordered for the insides. I love the little stitched white shells and the 'waves' around the edges.

Just Nan "Beach Roses"

stitched on lambswool linen with DMC

I feel like I've been on a country-wide LNS tour the last several months. (my wallet sure has felt it LOL) For some fortunate reason, the 3 places I've had to go for work travel have been places with great cross-stitch shops! I got to visit House of Stitches in northwest Indiana, StitchvilleUSA up near Minneapolis, and this month I was sent to Tulsa Oklahoma. Now you all probably know what's in Tulsa - the SILVER NEEDLE! I've always wanted to visit the shop and when I was told I was heading for Tulsa that's the first thing I thought of. I stayed over an extra day. While my coworkers were flying back home on Friday afternoon I headed over to cross-stitch Heaven. OMG - what a fabulous shop it is!! I was there at least 2 hours and all the employees were just nice as could be. Lucky for me, I had a generous VISA gift card given to me by my brother for Christmas so I shopped and shopped and shopped some more. I bought mostly patterns and linen cuts - they have a wonderful selection of linens. I took some photos of course so I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of the shop - if you ever get a chance don't hesitate but head right over there for a cross-stitch overload!

several Mill Hill kits at home but to see a stitched model of every kit was unbelievable! I wanted to buy one of everything. And that's not even all....around the corner is another section with all the Christmas ones!

I've been collecting several of the Christmas Village series but not stitched any of them yet. I don't want a bunch of hanging ones but perhaps I'll make them a bit smaller and do cubes. And may I mention that the Silver Needle has the most fabulous finishing work I've ever seen - the workmanship on all their model pieces in the shop is incredible!

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Here's the Lizzie-Kate section - fabulous cubes, stand-ups, etc. Loved how they made these individual cubes and stacked them up for display.

They had a Shepherd's Bush corner, a LHN area, a Hinzeit wall as you can see above, and an Autumn/Halloween section you see in the photo below. And of course there was much much more. I saw so many models that I already have the patterns for and of course wish I could get them all stitched after seeing them finished in person.

I fell in love with this new Brenda Keyes sampler and the pattern came home with me - it's "Sweet Humility". Love how French it looks.

They had several knotted ornaments displays made from Teresa Layman patterns. I've seen some of her works before in person but not as many as they had at The Silver Needle. They are truly works of art. I have a couple of her patterns but as of yet have never finished a single one. These ornaments below were in a little glass case so hard to photograph but stunning in person! They are made of thousands and thousands of tiny knots - see how beautiful the shading is? Unbelievable. The owner of the shop told me that a couple of Teresa's pieces were the inspiration for some Christmas stamps from the U.S. Postal Service. Well-deserved I'd say!﻿

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I'm going to close with a photo of CCN's Santa's Village they had on display in a case by the cash register. It's done over-1 on 28-ct. I have all these patterns and was going to start it this year on 36-ct fabric over-2, but after seeing this I had to change my plans. Now I want to stitch it over-1 - this was an awesome piece - you can judge the size by seeing the owner's hand at the top.

So you can see what an inspiring visit I had at the shop - just loved it. I'm headed back to Tulsa next Monday but unlikely I'll hit the store again....my bank account needs a rest LOL. Thank you to my new followers and thanks to all who stop by my little cobwebbed corner of Blogland! I just love talking stitching with you all. Next time I'll have some finishing work to share that I just mailed off to a friend. I'll wait until she has the pleasure of seeing them first before posting photos here.

It looks like you had a wonderful time at Silver Needle. I don't think I could resist the temptation in there and would have broken the bank! I have that Brenda Keys piece in my stash too! Just love it!! laura

Thank you for sharing the pictures of the shop. I feel like a piece of me was there even though I may never see the shop. Beach roses is so pretty, a new pattern to consider. Peace is one of my favorites, so lucky a friend made one for me. Hope lucky you are to see different shops while traveling for work.

Oh wow Jeanne! You got to go to the Silver Needle!! I would probably need longer than two hours, or at least a break in between!! Beautiful little design by Just Nan and your sheep finish is perfect! The corners of the pillow are darling. You are such an expert sewer!! (I can attest to that with my perfectly sewn project kit I use all the time :D )

Well you might be an infrequent blogger Jeanne but your posts are always full of eye candy so well worth the wait.I absolutely love your hanging pillow. Those tiny pinwheel corners are so cute. What a lovely idea - must try that sometime.Love the Just Nan piece and am reminded to look through some of my ancient stash for the designers I tend to overlook these days.I really enjoyed the tour of the Siver Needle. Lucky you to be able to visit in person.The CCN over one is gorgeous. Good luck with stitching it!Margaret

You have two very lovely finishes. So pretty how you finished the little LHN sheep with the two different fabrics. And wow, Beach Roses is so beautiful and I'm looking forward to seeing your finishing on it.Oh my, oh my, what a shop this is. It must be heaven to just get into the Silver Needle, even without buying anything. Just looking at all these treasures ... Of course, I'd never go there without buying anything, lol. Thanks for sharing all these pictures.

Jeanne -- Great post! Love your finishes and the virtual tour of Silver Needle was awesome. I've been there several times but not in the last couple of years. I've been for their summer designer stich weekends. Fabulous time.

I always have the same intentions regarding my blogging, Jeanne--shorter, but more posts! Well, I, too, fell short in January... Oh well, we just do the best we can, right?

Love your little sheep finish. I just finished Peace and Love for gifts--need to make more for myself. They are kind of addicting, aren't they--really enjoyed stitching them.

Oh, The Silver Needle!! I would have felt like I was in heaven!! Thanks for sharing those great photos and I love the Brenda Keyes chart that you came home with. I have that, too, and was actually just looking at it this morning... Just not enough time right now to stitch it... Oh, for the days when we can retire and devote more hours to our stitching :)

Jeanne what a wonderful post. Loved seeing the photos of Silver Needle. The Brenda Keyes chart is lovely. I shall enjoy your progress on that one.A lovely Sheep Virtues finish. Started my lot of charts but need to get around to finishing them.

OH WoW - what a treat Jeanne to hear your shop report on Silver Needle. Probably a place I will never get to see in my life. I think I have that BK chart in my stash - maybe we should do a SAL one of these days - it sure looked beautiful in your photograph. Some charts just don't do well on their covers. Your sheepie finish is so cool ! I have all of those Santa's Village charts too - I only have finished the first one as a cube - my goal was to literally have a little "village" of cube it's - You see how far that got LOL - CHeers Mel

Wonderful finishes Jeanne! Love your little sheepie finish! How amazing that you were able to stop into the Silver Needle! The photos are great. It looks like every nook and cranny is crammed with treasures.

Thank you for stopping by - I love hearing from other stitchers and crafters. If you have any questions be sure to leave an email address if you don't have one in your blogger profile so I can contact you. I appreciate your visit! (I've had to turn off allowing anonymous comments due to spammers)